Featured Review: ‘Trap The Devil’ By Ben Coes

Still recovering from the serious injuries he suffered in First Strike (2016), Dewey Andreas is on restricted duty with the CIA. Ordered to see a shrink in order to help process everything he’s been through, Dewey reluctantly agrees, but only to get back in the field.

To ease his star player back into the game, CIA Director Hector Calibrisi sends Dewey to Paris as part of Secretary of State Tim Lindsay’s protective detail. Things take a shocking turn, though, when Lindsay is assassinated in his hotel room shortly after arriving.

Security footage reveals that Dewey was the last person to visit Lindsay in his hotel suite, and ballistic tests show it was Dewey’s gun that killed the Secretary of State. While Andreas remains adamant that he was at dinner during the time of the murder, he’s detained and cut off from any and all outside help and denied any opportunity to talk to Calibrisi.

Left alone, Dewey begins to analyze the situation and decides that in order to catch the real killer, he has to escape from the black site prison facility where he’s currently being held. That kicks off a classic Ben Coes high-octane action sequence that would be the book’s high point if it wasn’t for a white-knuckle chase scene set onboard a fast-moving train chugging through the Swiss Alps later in the story.

Free from the authorities but on the run, Dewey learns that Lindsay wasn’t the only high-profile American diplomat to die within the last few days. The Speaker of the House, Lowell Benson Trappe Jr., was also killed, though initial reports suggest he accidentally drowned while hunting on Ossabaw Island.

Dewey knows that there are no coincidences in his line of work, and that the only way two high-profile American diplomats die that close together is if someone is taking them out. Further investigation reveals that a secret cabal–formed in the 1980s– is operating behind the scenes as a shadow government, with a plan to take over the White House in order to implement their radical agenda.

More than thirty years ago, the CIA created a secret paramilitary unit dubbed ‘Order Six.’ Buried deep in the State Department’s budget, Order Six was developed to take preemptive measures in protecting the President of the United States. Recruiting from the very best of the best–including the CIA’s paramilitary, Delta, and the Navy SEALS, Order Six formed an elite strike team that could operate anywhere, including on American soil.

But now, years later, Order Six has gone rogue and is knee-deep in their plan to change America forever–a plan that includes killing everyone and anyone who stands in their way, including Dewey.

As Dewey races to avoid the authorities, stay one step ahead of an assassin hot on his heels, and stop the cabal before they accomplish their goal, he receives help from several familiar faces that longtime fans of Coes’ series will recognize, including former Navy SEAL and Dewey’s friend, Rob Tacoma.

The on-the-run scenario mixed with a deep government conspiracy reads like a cross between one of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne novels and some of Tom Clancy’s early work. Coes spices it up with his trademark brand of sarcastic humor, something he knows how (and when) to use better than most.

Just when you think Coes has peaked, he unveils a new gear, elevating his series to an entirely new level. While the nonstop action is the main course here, the complex, thought-provoking plot and character development prove to be the cherry on top to Coes’ relentless, adrenaline-pumping thriller.

Not only will readers see a new side to Andreas, who finally opens up and says things fans have waited years to hear him admit, but Coes slips one final shocking twist into his plot that will stun readers and have a lasting impact on Dewey moving forward.

With a plot that moves faster than the Lamborghini Aventador Dewey uses to evade French authorities, Coes’ latest offering is his best novel to date. While action and deftly-plotted scenarios have been his calling card in the past, the character development and emotion written into Trap The Devil elevates Ben Coes to the very top of the thriller genre, where he sits alongside the likes of Brad Thor, Daniel Silva, and the late Vince Flynn.

6 comments

I’m a serious Ben Coes fan since the first book arrived. Ben has the canning ability to build a great story. Dewey’s adventures just get better and more dangerous. “Trap The Devil” spins characters from previous books into this one. Readers really need to start at book one read in order to fully understand the dynamics behind their actions. This book is a powerful read and delivers 110% what Coes fans want. On another note, Ben is a very nice down to Earth guy that converses with his fans. I think this book is Ben’s masterpiece, full of surprises for the fans.

This review doesn’t surprise me at all. I happened upon his first book when I was browsing for – well, anything – that would catch my eye. It seemed slim pickings until I saw Ben’s Coes’ book. It did not disappoint. I was hooked by the first page. In fact, Ben Coes is the first one to introduce me to the political thriller genre and I have not looked back since. Although my bookcase is now overflowing with so many great authors, Ben Coes remains at the very top of my list. I didn’t even need this great review to know it is going to be another Keeper. I also loved that when I wrote Ben Coes (twice, actually), he answered both my emails. Well done, Ben Coes.

[…] From our review: “While action and deftly-plotted scenarios have been his calling card in the past, the character development and emotion written into Trap the Devil elevates Ben Coes to the very top of the thriller genre, where he sits alongside the likes of Brad Thor, Daniel Silva, and the late Vince Flynn.” (Read the rest of the review here.) […]